The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) has added the video codec MPEG-4 AVC High Profile to the Blu-ray Disc BD-ROM specification.

"With the addition of the MPEG-4 AVC High-Profile codec, we are offering content owners maximum functionality and flexibility for their high-definition packaged media," said Blu-ray Disc spokesperson Maureen Weber, general manager of HP's Optical Storage Solutions Business. "This is just one more example of Blu-ray Disc's commitment to be the best medium for high-definition packaged media."

Video codecs are used to compress video images for storage to a disc and then decompress them for viewing. A critical piece to Blu-ray Disc was making sure that any advanced compression codecs included in the specification accomplish the compression and decompression with little or no visible loss of image quality.

About Blu-ray Disc: Blu-ray Disc is a next-generation optical disc format being developed for high-definition video and high-capacity software applications. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 25 gigabytes of data and a double-layer Blu-ray Disc will hold up to 50 gigabytes of data.